Bathing cap



April 5, 1949.

F. W. BOVVDITCH BATHING CAF Fied April 6, 1946 Patented Apr. 5, 1949&465,998

BATHING CAP Frederick Bowditch, Los Angeles, Calif., as-

signor of one-haif to Charles l). Shaw, Santa Monica, Calif.

Application April 6, 1946, Serial No. 660,253

7 Claims.

My invention relates to bathing caps and has for its primary object toprovide a bathng cap Which may be opened to slip easily over thewearer's head and hair without disturbing the hair, and then closedsnugly around the forehead, checks and neck to form a smoothly fitting,substantially watertight protection.

A further object is to provide a bathing cap which eliminates the needof Stretching or distorting the bathing cap in order to fit it over thehead so that the cap may be made of material having less Stretchingcapability than must be provided in conventional caps, thus increasingthe range of materials from which the cap may be made.

A further object is to provide a bathing cap which employs slidefasteners to draw segments of the cap together over a sealing web sothat the cap remains watertight, and which, by reason of the fact thatthe segments may be so drawn together, provides a particularly smoothand orm-tting contour over the back of the head and neck.

With the above and other Objects in view, as may appear hereinafter,reference is directed to the following drawings, in which:

Figure lis a side perspective View of my bather's cap shown as itappears when WOrn, and indicating by dotted lines the enlarged formwhich it assumes When being fitted over one s head, or being removed.

Figure 2 is a rear perspective view of my bather's cap, shown as itappears when worn, and indicating by dotted line the folded pleat.

Figure 3 is a rear perspective view of my bathers cap as it appears whenopened.

Figure 4 is a similar rear View of a modified form of my bathefs cap.

Figure 5 is an enlarged, transverse, sect onal view through 5-5 of Fig.2, Showing the manner in which the pleat fol-'is on opposite sides ofthe slide fastener, the pleat folds, however, being separated tofacilitate the illustration.

My bathing cap, represented generally at l, is shaped to conform to thewearer's head and' is provided with a face opening 2 and a neck opening3 which intersect at the juncture of the face and neck openings to formtabs l which are joined by a chin strap 5. suitable fastening elementsare provided on the tabs and chin strap.

The cap member is split from a point at the crown of the head, over theback of the head, and to the midpoint of the neck opening 3. Thecoacting parts of a slide fastener 6 are secured along opposite marginsof the slit and a slide 'l 2 is provided for joining the two parts ofthe slide fastener, so that when joined the cap forms a completecovering for the hair. The Slit provided with the slide fastener 5divides the back portion of the cap into two segments. In addition tothe slide fastener these are connected by means of a gore 8 which issewed to the two segments along the margin of the slit. The gore isadapted to fold upon itself, as shown in Fig. 5, when the two f Segmentsare brought together, and spreads out,

as shown in Fig. 3, When the slide fastener is disengaged or opened.

The cap member l may be forrned of molded rubber, or of variousplastics, and is shaped so that it conforms quite accurately to thecurvature of the head, particularly around the back of the head as itjoins the neck. The presence of the gore, however, enables the ides ofthe cap member to be spread apart, as shown in Fig. 3,

"* and by dotted lines in Fig. l, so that the cap may be slipped overthe hair without disturbing the coiffure, and then caused to t snugly byclosing the slide fastener It will be observed that the cap need not bestretched over the head, or bind the sides of the head, in order to fitSnugly around the margins of the face and neck openings. Furthermore,nasmuch as the material comprising the cap need not be Stretched overthe head either in the course of fitting the cap on the head or removingit, it follows that various plastic materials may be used which do nothave the Stretching characteristics of rubber. Some of these materialsare superior to rubber With regard to appearance, transparency, orteXt-ure, but they have heretofore been unsuitable due to the need forStretching the conventionally constructed cap over the head.

The gore, when folded as shown in Fig. 5, provides an adequate shieldagainst the entrance of water through the slide fastener 6. While thegore may be made of the same material as the cap member i, it isdesirable, insofar as the strength of the materia] permits, to constructthe gore from material which is relatively thin as compared to thematerial comprising the cap member so that the gore may fold snugly witha minimum bulk.

Reference is directed to Fig. 4, wherein there is illustrated a modifiedform of my bathing cap. The essential difierence from the previouslydescribed cap is the provision of two slits extending from a pointadjacent the crown, down the back of the cap and behind the ears, sothat the back portion of the cap is divided into three Segments. The twoslits are provided With slide 3 fasteners l I and are bridged by twogores I2. In either construction a snugly fitting cap is providedWithout undue Stretching of any part.

Many other embodiments of the invention may be resorted to Withoutdeparting from the Spirit of the invention.

I claim:

1. A bather's cap involving: a head conforming cap having openings forthe face and neck of the wearer, and defining at least one slitextending from the neck to the crown of the cap; a gore set in said slitand sealed to the margins thereof, and a continuous fastener meansextending the length of said slit for drawing the margins of said slitinto juxtaposition.

2. A bather s cap involving: a cap structure shaped to conform to theWearer's head and defining communicating face and neck openings, saidcap structure also defining a slit extending from the neck to the crownof the cap, a gore set in said cap and sealed to the margins of Saidslit whereby the face and neck openings of the cap may be enlarged andthe margins of said cap extend divergingly for ready placement over thewearer's head, and continuous fastener means eXtending the length ofsaid slit for drawing the margins .of said slit into juxtaposition anddraw said cap structure into Conformity with the Wearer's head.

3. A bather's cap involving: at least a pair of head covering elementstogether defining a headconforming cap structure having connected faceand neck openings, the frontal portions of said elements beingintegrally connected, their top and rearward portion defining a slit,coacting continuous connecting means along the margins of said slit tojoin said elements together, and a flexible eXpander element sealed toeach of said head covering elements and bridging said slit to permitexpansion of said head and neck openings by separation of Said headcovering elements in the region of said slit, and forming a seal to eX-clude water from entrance through said slit.

4. A bather's cap involving: a pair of head conforming side portions anda central portion adapted when juXtaposed to form a cap structureconforming to the wearer's head and having connecting face and neckopenings, Said portions joined integrally from the crown to the faceopening of the cap structure and defining slits continuing from thecrown to the neck opening thereof, continuous coacting means along themargins of said slits to join said portions together, and a flexibleeXpander element sealed to adjacent portions and bridging Said slits topermit expansion of said head and neck openings by separation of saidportions in the region of Said slits, and forming a seal to excludewater from entrance through said slits.

5. A bather*s cap involving: a head conforming cap having openings forthe face and neck of the Wearer, and defining at least one slit eX-tending from the neck to the crown of the cap; a chin strap separatingsaid face and neck openings; a gore set in said slit and sealed to themargins thereof, and a continuous fastener means extending the length ofsaid slit for drawing the margins of said slit into juXtaposition, andcoacting With said chin strap to cause the margins of said neck openingto conform closely to the neck of the wearer.

6. A bather's cap involving: a cap structure shaped to conform to thewearer s head and defining communicating face and neck openings, saidcap structure also defining a slit eXtending from the neck to the crownof the cap; a chin strap separating said face and neck openings; a goreset in said cap and sealed to the margins of Said slit whereby the faceand neck openings of the cap may be enlarged and the margins of said capextend divergingly for ready placement over the wearefs head, andcontinuous fastener means eXtending the length of said slit for drawingthe margins of said slit into juxtaposition and draw said cap structureinto Conformity with the wearer's head, and coacting with said chinstrap to cause the margins of said neck opening to conform closely tothe neck of the wearer.

7. A bather's cap involving: a pair of head conforming side portions anda central portion adapted When juxtaposed to form a cap structureconforming to the Wearer's head and having connecting face and neckopenings, said portions joined integraily from the crown to the faceopening :of the cap structure and defining slits continuing from thecrown to the neck opening thereof; a chin strap separating said face andneck openings; continuous coacting means along the margins of Said slitsto join said portions together, and a flexible expander element sealedto adjacent portions and bridging Said slits to permit expansion of saidhead and neck openings by separation of said portions in the region ofsaid slits, and orming a seal to exclude water from entrance throughsaid slits, and coacting With said chin strap to cause the margins ofsaid neck opening to conform closely to the neck of the wearer.

FREDERICK W. BOWDITCH.

REFERENCES CTED The following references are of record in the fiie ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES` PATENTS Number Name Date 1,742,314 I-IuSman Jan. 7, 19302,066,713 Bowland Jan. 5, 1937 2,229,825 Stachel Jan. 28, 1941 2,312,66Turchin Mar. 2, 1943

